On my recent Texas trip, I drove down to Padre Island National Seashore to see what that was all about. Living on the Atlantic Ocean, I figured it would be pretty much like "home" but had never been on the Gulf of Mexico before, so headed out. Now, my GPS and I are sometimes not on speaking terms, and other times I talk to it - questioning where it is taking me - and this trip was no different. My road map (which by the way are extremely hard to find in gas stations anymore) appeared to have a road to Port Aransas where I would get the road to Padre Island NS. Driving along I spied a sign - "Wait for ferry 30 minutes." Wait. What? Ferry? What ferry? Turns out that there is a State of Texas ferry operation across the shipping channel between the mainland and Port Aransas (where there was a Whooping Crane Festival going on that I decided not to attend because I was closer to the Cranes in Rockport and could book my own tours of the Wildlife Refuge). There are 6 to 7 ferrys that run 24/7/365, so that was a nice adventure it itself. Padre Island had a lot of wildlife to photograph, although the Kestrels were nearly impossible to photograph. There were also Roseate Spoonbills along the side of the road in the ditches and a lot of other birds in the marshes. Profitable day and nice drive.
Laughing Gulls at the ferry. Poop, Poop, Pee, Do
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Great Blue Heron
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Willet on Padre Island
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American Bittern - Padre Island
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Sanderling - winter plumage - Padre Island
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Beak prints - Padre Island
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Brown Pelican - Padre Island
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Not sure what this is - someone help me out please
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Roseate Spoonbill - breeding plumage
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Very nice series AuntieM...and a nice road trip adventure too! Number 8 is a Merlin, they are only slightly larger then a Kestral. You were lucky, one doesn't have many opportunities to see them.
Being at Port Aransas you are northeast of Corpus Christi. To the southwest of Corpus there is a road to Padre that crosses two canals. When I was there in 1954 - 1956, there were barge swing bridges across the canals, where you could tie off a rowboat to pilings for fishing. At the Padre end there was a bail & tackle shop, a bar & eatery, and some cabanas. There was a long Bob Hall pier where we would fish from. Once hooked a Hammer Head shark whose cinvolutions looped my line about is tail - that was one job and a half. Got some great eating fish off that pier, like Pompano. Can’t do any of that fun stuff anymore I don’t suppose.
Nice collection of photos AuntieM!
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Looks like a worthwhile trip! Nice set!
jederick wrote:
Very nice series AuntieM...and a nice road trip adventure too! Number 8 is a Merlin, they are only slightly larger then a Kestral. You were lucky, one doesn't have many opportunities to see them.
Thank you jererick for the bird ID. They certainly are quick little things, and this photo is heavily cropped because I could not get really close.
John_F wrote:
Being at Port Aransas you are northeast of Corpus Christi. To the southwest of Corpus there is a road to Padre that crosses two canals. When I was there in 1954 - 1956, there were barge swing bridges across the canals, where you could tie off a rowboat to pilings for fishing. At the Padre end there was a bail & tackle shop, a bar & eatery, and some cabanas. There was a long Bob Hall pier where we would fish from. Once hooked a Hammer Head shark whose cinvolutions looped my line about is tail - that was one job and a half. Got some great eating fish off that pier, like Pompano. Can’t do any of that fun stuff anymore I don’t suppose.
Being at Port Aransas you are northeast of Corpus ... (
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Things always change, but most times not for the better. I think there is a highrise bridge from Padre to Corpus now to facilitate the large amount of traffic. I met a guy on Padre that had been out fishing in his boat. He said that the fishing was still good there. Thanks for looking and commenting.
Bill_de wrote:
Nice collection of photos AuntieM!
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Thank you sir. I appreciate to taking a look and commenting.
BlueMorel wrote:
Looks like a worthwhile trip! Nice set!
A very worthwhile trip indeed. Thank you for your kind comments.
Well, I like the narrative as well as the photos. Good Job!
Yes, you still can and the pier is still there! You can also go down a little further and enter the National Seashore Park and "bird Island Basin! I live in Corpus and go there from time to time!
Harle
AuntieM Nice set. Looks like a tempting trip. If I ever make it to Texas again, I will surely try to go there. Thanks for Sharing...
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